Nautical Institute and DNV-GL accreditation for VSTEP DP Simulators

In a timespan of one month, three types of VSTEP Dynamic Positioning Simulators have been officially certified and accredited by the Nautical Institute and Det Norske Veritas (DNV-GL) certification bodies. The accreditation means the new NAUTIS Dynamic Positioning simulators from VSTEP are fully certified and approved to be used for official DP training courses.

The accredited Dynamic Positioning Simulators were based on different DP control types and included both Class A and Class B type DP simulators. Accreditation of the DP simulators took place no more than four weeks apart and at different locations, including VSTEP’s World Headquarters and acclaimed training institutes in Shanghai and Singapore. An overview:

· A DP Class A Full Mission Bridge Simulator was certified by DNV-GL at VSTEP’s new head office in Rotterdam, based on the Praxis Mega-Guard DP2 system.

· A DP Class B simulator was certified by the Nautical Institute (NI) at The Dynamic Positioning Centre of Shanghai Maritime University (SMU), co-established by SMU and C-MAR Group, and based on the Praxis Mega-Guard DP2 system.

· A DP Class B simulator was certified by the Nautical Institute at the L-3 DP&CS Training Center in Singapore, and was based on the L-3 Dynamic Positioning and Control System.

The class A and B DP Simulators were all lauded for their immaculate quality, realism and high training value they provide to users.

Paul Kuin, Principal Auditor at DNV-GL for the DP Class A simulator at VSTEP’s Rotterdam office, was impressed: “The ergonomic and intuitive layout of the bridge equipment looks very convincing. We often notice with DP Class A Full Mission simulators that the DP2 system is added to an existing forward bridge. VSTEP however also designed an aft bridge DP Class A simulator, which frankly is more suitable for many offshore DP operations like platform supply and diving support.”

Benjamin Van Dam, Sales Manager for Praxis Automation Technology BV added: “Praxis and VSTEP have been working together on high quality simulators for more than 7 years. Together, Praxis and VSTEP combine professional simulation with a real ship environment. The DP system which is used for the DNV DP Class A certified simulator uses the exact same hardware and software as the high quality Praxis Mega-Guard Dynamic Positioning systems. Praxis is proud of the result of the partnership with VSTEP and feels that the DNV DP Class A certification confirms the quality of this result.”